makes ya think...{november 30, 2023}

See that glowing red sign? 

It says EXIT.

We're 27 stories from the street.

Never have seen an exit sign that high up from the outside.

wordy wednesday...ga-fluppted {november 29, 2023}

Here we go...

After a long holiday weekend that launches a bigger holiday season when streets and homes dress up in their finest festive wear, there’s still work to be done, cookies to bake, bills to pay, and plans upon plans to make, people to love and animals to cuddle, and the world is still mad and beautiful and overwhelmingly confusing at times and all of it together can have one feeling quite ga-fluppted. Yet somehow we hold hope in our hearts and send prayers for peace and joy to all in need and remember to be kind.

Whew!

(Ga-fluppted: from Hunches in Bunches by Dr. Seuss).

determination {november 28, 2023}

Photo: Dayton at Work and Play

Still hanging on...

 

monday's mulling: the kitchen table {november 27, 2023}

Photo: Ohio Humanities

Wow...it's the last Monday of November. I tried hard not to let Christmas mingle with Thanksgiving and did a pretty good job of it. I did a little Christmas shopping leading up to Thanksgiving but as far as Christmas decorating, that will start today.

I do love Thanskgiving and even more so now that we are empty nesters. It's a quiet holiday where the focus is gratitude and blessings which is a lovely mindset to have while phasing into the bright and busy Christmas season. 

This year we had four of us at our Thanksgiving table and I do believe that is the fewest amount of people that has been here for Thanksgiving. That sure didn't stop me like I was cooking for an army! We talked and laughed, shared stories about our families' Thanksgiving traditions, bantered about the Ohio State/Michigan football game, and left the table very full of food and love. 

Below is a poem from former U. S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo (Muskogee [Creek] Nation). It's about connection and community, opening our hearts to  one another during a conversation with a friend, at the office, or even across the dinner table.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Perhaps the World Ends Here
by Joy Harjo

The world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what, we must eat to live.

The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table. So it has been since creation, and it will go on.

We chase chickens or dogs away from it. Babies teethe at the corners. They scrape their knees under it.

It is here that children are given instructions on what it means to be human. We make men at it, we make women.

At this table we gossip, recall enemies and the ghosts of lovers.

Our dreams drink coffee with us as they put their arms around our children. They laugh with us at our poor falling-down selves and as we put ourselves back together once again at the table.

This table has been a house in the rain, an umbrella in the sun.

Wars have begun and ended at this table. It is a place to hide in the shadow of terror. A place to celebrate the terrible victory.

We have given birth on this table, and have prepared our parents for burial here.

At this table we sing with joy, with sorrow. We pray of suffering and remorse. We give thanks.

Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing and crying, eating of the last sweet bite.

thanksgiving highway humor {november 26, 2023}

State departments of transportation are getting creative to remind people to practice safe driving. It's particularly fun to see what the digital reminders are around the holidays. 

My son came home for Thanksgiving Tuesday night. 20 minutes out of Columbus his tire blew. T and I picked him up. The next day, I drove him back to his car to meet the tow truck which took his car to the tire shop. Anyway, along the drive to and from Columbus, ODOT's safety message gave drivers thought to keep safe.

Photo: ODOT

Friday we took off for Chicago to spend the weekend with our daughters and on the approach to Chicago the Illinois DOT greeted us with its safety message:

Messages that tie into pop culture or something people can relate to is a way to get the importance of safety out the and hopefully change driver behavior. If these messages help people pay attention, slow down, and make sure they’re buckled, that's what matters.

America is experiencing a rise in traffic deaths and the effectiveness of witty signs is up for debate. States love them. It earns DOTs some fun publicity and even occasional notoriety on social media. Plus it seems like making a message witty, topical, or full of puns should be better at grabbing drivers’ attention. One study even shows that such messaging causes more activity in the reader’s brain than a simple message like Don’t Drink And Drive. Funny signs might make a boring chore like freeway driving more entertaining, but if it’s not making us more safe, then studies will need to be done to measure the signs' effectiveness.

 

le beaujolais nouveau est arrivé! {november 25, 2023}

 

Beaujolais nouveau is a red wine made from Gamay grapes produced in the Beaujolais region of France. It is a vin de primeur (an early wine), fermented for just a few weeks.

Traditionally, Beaujolais Nouveau Day is celebrated in the French region of Beaujolais on the third Thursday in November to mark the first release of Beaujolais nouveau wine. This regional tradition began in the Beaujolais region to toast the harvest of that year’s vineyards, a celebration of the new vintage. At 12:01 a.m. bottles may be sold and consumed and that’s when the parties start with the proclamation “Le beaujolais nouveau est arrivé!”

Beaujolais nouveau is a purple-pink wine reflecting its youth, bottled only 6–8 weeks after harvest. It has very bright, fresh, red fruit flavors, such as cherry, strawberry, and raspberry. The wine is recommended to be slightly chilled to 13 °C (55 °F). Beaujolais nouveau is intended for immediate drinking and not to save it. This wine is fun and simple and many of those with more sophisticated wine palates don’t appreciate Beaujolais nouveau’s playfulness. I sure do. I sipped on a glass to get me through the last minute Thanksgiving meal preparations. 

Hmmm…plan a trip to France to celebrate Beaujolais Nouveau Day? 

the friday feed: sweet potatoes {november 24, 2023}

A little while ago my son's girlfriend wasn't feeling well and he asked if I would fix some homemade chicken soup for her. Happy to oblige. Later on she and I were texting and talking about Thanksgiving and she mentioned that she would miss having her mom's sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving. Her family isn't in town, she worked on Thanksgiving, and since she was having the Thanksgiving meal with us, I wanted to fix sweet potatoes like her mom does.

A quick text to her mom. "Hi, Wende! Kelsey will be with us for Thanksgiving dinner. She was telling me about your sweet potatoes and how she misses them. Please share your recipe or tell me how you make them because I'd love to include them with our meal. Thank you so much." In less than a minute, I received this - Grandma's handwritten recipe for Sweet Potato Casserole. A blast from the past to share on Thanksgiving. The chain of love continues.

giving thanks {november 23, 2023}

Ever since my family started growing with my son and daughter-in-law's wedding in 2018, I've been blessed to have all of my family together at the house at either Thanksgiving or Christmas. This is the year that everyone will be here for Christmas. Little grandson will be 18 months old and he will bring a little bit of Christmas magic to the gathering. 

Last year everyone was here for Thanksgiving and it was a momentous few days. My now son-in-law proposed to my daughter on T's birthday. An engagement party with an acknowledgement to a 65th birthday ensued. Thanksgiving was the next day and the table was filled with 10 people, lots of food and drink, and lots of laughter.

This Thanksgiving is a little quieter. My son and his girlfriend will be at the table with T and me. She is a nurse's aide at a local nursing home and works the 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. shift. We'll have dinner after her shift is over. There will be plenty of food and drink, laughter, and a birthday celebration! Today is T's birthday. 

Happy Birthday to this loyal Cleveland Browns fan, a DAWG who bleeds brown and orange. He’s been through it all, starting as a 7 year old kid watching the 1964 Championship onto The Kardiac Kids, The Mistake on the Lake, The Drive, The Fumble, The Move, Rebuilding Since 1999, Factory of Sadness, The Helmet, and like the Energizer Bunny, he keeps on going! No matter what the Browns do, one thing never changes: the Pittsburgh Steelers suck. 

Thanks for keeping my life colorful with all your orange and brown and keeping me on my toes but also keeping me grounded.

Happy Birthday, THouse! And now, 2 months and 1 week later, you're the same age as me!

❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂

Give thanks for a little, and you will find a lot.

~ Hausa Proverb

wordy wednesday...vive ut vivas {november 22, 2023}

During this streak of beautiful autumn days, I have taken time after my yoga classes to walk through historic Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum. I love walking through this spot filled with Dayton history, seeing the names of people who were instrumental in the development of the city, walking through the autumn colors on the majestic trees, seeing the city views, and always stumbling across something I haven't previously seen.

On a very large family gravestone was this beautiful metal work with a rampant lion and a banner proclaiming Vive Ut Vivas. This took me way back to my high school Latin class with Miss Davis who was very strict, demanding, had the highest expectations for all of her students, and didn't smile too often. I remembered "vivere" was the Latin word for "to live" so with that basic knowledge and looking at the beautiful artwork I figured this had something to do with living life to the fullest. That was a pretty good guess.

Literally, Vive Ut Vivas means "live that you may live," or live life to the fullest. Maybe after all these years, this brought a heavenly smile to Miss Davis.

the wright brothers {november 21, 2023}

The desire to fly is both ancient and universal. For centuries, humans have taken to the sky by balloons, kites, and gliders but Orville and Wilbur Wright took flight to the next level with the first successful heavier-than-air powered aircraft. At the center of the story of this first heavier-than-air powered flight are the Wright Brothers, two talented, yet modest, Midwestern bicycle shop owners living in Dayton, Ohio, who created a world-changing technology.

I subscribe to The Literary Hub daily newsletter and to explain what Literary Hub is all about, "Literary Hub is for readers, writers, booksellers - everyone who loves books and literature. In a balkanized landscape of big houses, indies, journals and bloggers clamoring for attention from an increasingly distracted audience, Literary Hub is a much-needed organizing principle in the service of literary culture." This poem showed up on another blog I read and it just warmed my heart that a Scots man shared this.

Here's to all those who dare to make their dreams come true!

Orville

by Rudy Francisco

A letter from Orville to Wilbur
the evening before their first flight:

The Wright Brothers,
Orville and Wilbur,
are known as the first engineers
to successfully design, build,
and operate an aircraft.

Brother,
last week, I overheard a joke:
What do you call
Two men who think they can fly?

A funeral.
To be honest, I didn’t think it was funny either.

The whole town has become
an ocean of pointed fingers.

People I once called friends
are now just a tidal wave of unsolicited advice.
They’re trying to rinse out the color from our dreams.

Yesterday, a lady from church pulled me aside
and said,
If God wanted us in the sky,
He would have given us wings.

And I replied, Isn’t that what imagination is?
The act of actually going somewhere
that others can only think of?

Brother, sometimes,
people who have never even tried to run a mile
will tell you that a marathon is too far.

Some people will try to talk you out
of jumping into the water

simply because they have
always been too scared to learn how to swim.

Fear is when the brain digs out all faith from the body
and then calls it survival.

Fear is when we turn up the volume on
everything that might go wrong
and then allow it to speak louder than our courage.

But for those who do not worship at the altar of panic,
for those who will not sacrifice their ambitions
to a demigod of worst-case scenarios,
for those who do not give up,
failure is just a short story they tell
before they talk about success.

I know this process has been difficult.
The miscalculations, the hours we’ve put in,
the days we spend away from our families.

But every time I walk outside,
I can feel the ground getting nervous,
like it knows it cannot keep us here much longer
because we are destined for a higher calling.

I hear them say it’s impossible,
but I say everything is until it’s not.

They call us stupid.
I say stupid and brave are just two sides of the same coin.
The only difference is whether you guess correctly
before the penny hits the floor.

Tomorrow,
we will call gravity a liar.
We will kiss God on the face.
Tomorrow, I will look you in the eyes,
and I will say, I told you the wind would feel different up here.

What they think does not matter.
When we are in the clouds,
we won’t even be able to see them.

Brother,
I have a joke.
What do you call the first
two men in the world who figure out how to fly?

 Legends.

• More

a rainbow surprise {november 19, 2023}

“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” 

~ Dolly Parton

We put up with the rain for three hours on our drive to Cleveland with a little break in the wetness around Columbus. The clouds broke for a few minutes and a rainbow made a beautiful arc over I-70.

 

i want to ride my bicycle {november 18, 2023}

With all the sunny, beautiful fall days that have been blessing us, my girl friend and I took an afternoon to ride our bikes along the Little Miami River Trail from Xenia to Yellow Springs. It was a 20-mile ride round trip, we ate lunch in Yellow Springs, and then took a little time to shop in this funky little hippie town. The bike path is fairly flat and so peaceful. Not many people were out on a weekday. 

When riding on a bike trail, the trail etiquette is for the lead rider to call out hazards on the route. Walnut trees were all along the bike path and consequently walnuts fell onto the pathway. My friend was the lead rider and whenever she came upon a bunch of walnuts, she called out "Balls!" On the ride back to Xenia she saw a snake crossing the trail and her warning was, "Holyshitthere'sasnake!" She stopped immediately, I almost crashed into her. Never a dull moment with this girl.

Your bike is a discovery; your bike is freedom. It doesn’t matter where you are when you’re on the saddle; you’re taken away.   ~ Doug Donaldson

The Richard P. Eastman covered bridge, AKA the Hyde Road covered bridge

Snaaaaaake!

the friday feed: pepper day {november 17, 2023}

At the end of the season party for the farmer's market there was some produce that hadn't sold so our more-than-amazing bosses told us to take what we wanted. We all turned into kids in a candy store! With me cooking for two and with a limited amount of freezer and refrigerator space, I tried not to let my eyes get bigger than my stomach. The veggies came home, sat in the fridge for about a week, and then it was time to do something with them.

With the poblano peppers, I chopped them up and froze them. A poblano chicken chowder is in the future on a cold winter's day. And then a duh moment. After chopping the poblanos my eye itched and without thinking, I rubbed it. Yikes!

I froze the hot banana peppers for future use in my spicy roasted red pepper with baked feta cheese dip.

For the stuffing peppers, I used some leftover Italian sausage and hamburger and did a clean out of this and that in the veggie bin to make a mixture to stuff into the peppers. Ajvar (pronounced eye-var), a red pepper and eggplant spread was the binding for this concoction. Each pepper is individually wrapped, again to use on a cold winter day or else for a day when cooking inspiration just doesn't happen.

egg nog {november 16, 2023}

Another morning run to the grocery store for some milk. 

T has been talking about buying some egg nog and I have told him he should wait until after Thanksgiving. It's kind of like pumpkin spice starting in September but now it's egg nog in November. 

Well guess what came home with the most recent milk run? I rolled my eyes but you know what? A little bit of egg nog in the morning coffee is pretty tasty!

 

wordy wednesday...archabbey {november 15, 2023}

On our drive to Owensboro, we passed a road sign on Route 64 to St. Meinrad Archabbey. (Abbey is synonymous with monastery; an archabbey is a principle monastery). What would an important place in the hierarchy of the Catholic church be doing in the Indiana countryside? We took a side trip.

Saint Meinrad Archabbey was founded by monks from Einseideln Abbey in Switzerland on March 21, 1854, and is home to approximately 79 monks. The Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology is also located on the premises. The abbey is named for the monk, St. Meinrad of Einseideln, who died in 861. It is one of only two archabbeys in the United States and one of 11 in the world.

The Saint Meinrad grounds are very quiet and tranquil. What caught my eye was the cemetery. It reminded me of a military cemetery, a cemetery with rows and rows of identical headstones  - simple, each one in the shape of a cross. The headstones are set in straight lines and are made of the same local rock that the Abbey itself is built out of. They are very stout.The height as well as the distance between each stone is uniform, evoking military precision, like rows of soldiers in formation, or in this case, soldiers of the Lord.

After the Civil War when Congress appropriated funding for national military cemeteries, Frederick Law Olmsted recommended that the military cemetery designs should “remain deceptively simple” and the “main object should be to establish permanent dignity and tranquility . . . a sacred grove, sacredness and protection being expressed in the enclosing wall and in the perfect tranquility of the trees within.” The St. Meinrad cemetery conveys this same feeling in its sacred resting place.

autumn walk {november 14, 2023}

A quiet, monotone walk (except for the bright blue autumn sky) through the tall grass prairie at Sugarcreek Metro Park.

monday's mulling: world kindness day {november 13, 2023}

World Kindness Day was introduced by the World Kindness Movement, a global coalition of kindness organizations, in 1998. It was established to encourage individuals and communities to prioritize kindness and goodwill as fundamental values. Since then, World Kindness Day has gained recognition and participation from people around the world, making it a day to celebrate and promote positive human interactions.

World Kindness Day is observed on November 13th each year. This year it falls on a Monday, providing an opportunity for people to start their week with acts of kindness and goodwill.

In a world where you can be anything...

BE KIND!

“Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver.” ~ Barbara De Angelis

does anybody really know what time it is? {november 12, 2023}

Daylight Saving Time officially ended at 2:00 am on the last Sunday. In theory, "falling back" meant an extra hour of sleep last weekend.

Winston Churchill once described Daylight Saving Time like this: "An extra yawn one morning in the springtime, an extra snooze one night in the autumn… We borrow an hour one night in April; we pay it back with golden interest five months later."

In reality, many people don’t, or can’t, take advantage of the extra hour of sleep. The resulting shift in the body’s daily sleep-wake cycle can disrupt sleep for several days. That would be me. I need a couple more days to get into the rhythm of the new time change.

I would support the elimination of seasonal time changes if the opportunity would ever come up.

⏰ ⏰ ⏰ ⏰ ⏰ ⏰ ⏰ ⏰ ⏰ ⏰ ⏰ ⏰ ⏰ ⏰ ⏰ 

The post's title, Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? I keep hearing the song's intro with Chicago's signature rock and roll with big horns and then that got me to thinking about songs with the word "time" in the title. Here's a quick list of 10:

• Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? by Chicago
• Time by Hootie and the Blowfish
• Love Me Two Times by The Doors
• Too Much Time on My Hands by Styx
• Time of the Seasons by The Zombies
• Only Time Will Tell by Asia
• TIme in a Bottle by Jim Croce
• I’ve Had the Time of My Life by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes
• Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day
• Old Time Rock and roll by Bob Seger

veterans day {november 11, 2023}

"Honor to the soldier and sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country's cause. Honor, also, to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field and serves, as best he can, the same cause." —Abraham Lincoln

To those who are serving or who have served: Thank you.

the friday feed: is it soup yet? {november 10, 2023}

On October 31 the farmer's market where I worked closed for the season. There was some unsold produce and our bosses told the employees to take what they wanted. I got a box of tomatoes and a few other other veggies.

The other night was a little chilly and windy and it just seemed like a good night for soup. Homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches to be exact. 

This was so easy to make and so delicious. It's sad saying good bye to fresh, local tomatoes but I did make a few batches of soup to put in the freezer for a taste of summer on a cold winter day.

🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 

Roasted Tomato Soup

2 lbs. vine-ripe tomatoes, cored and cut in half

1 head garlic, with the top cut off to expose all the cloves

5 or 6 sprigs of thyme

Olive oil

1 large onion, rough chopped (next time I'm going to cook the onions in the over with the tomatoes and garlic)

1 T. tomato paste

1 T. chipotle paste (I used 2 chipotle peppers and some of the adobo sauce they were in)

4 c. chicken stock

Preheat oven to 425.

Put tomatoes and garlic on a sheet pan, season with salt and pepper, top tomatoes with the thyme and drizzle with olive oil.

Roast about 45 minutes or until the tomatoes and garlic have softened.

While the tomatoes cook, put onion in a medium pot with a tablespoon of oil and soften over medium heat, about 5 minutes.

Add the tomato paste and chipotles, stir well a couple minutes, then add the chicken stock.

When the tomatoes are ready, add them to the pot, and squeeze garlic out of the head and add chicken broth. Use an immersion blender to mix everything in the pot or transfer to a regular blender and blend until desired thickness. Simmer 20 minutes or until reduced and slightly thickened.